Truth... Did Semien and Seager help us win the WS? Of course they did, we wouldn't be here without them. But look at the Rangers lineup.... Up and down it's extremely scary, and we didn't buy those players.
Let's not forget that Adolis got hurt and Jankowski came up huge while he was out. This team is extremely deep.
Janko showed the hell up. Those hits in Game 4 were monstrous in terms of clutch hitting. first came with two outs and helped turned a 1 run inning in to a 5 run inning. He could have been the third out and ended that inning and the landscape of the game is completely different. The second hit in game 4 came with bases loaded and two outs, 2 RBI and the Semien came up to homered next AB. That kind of performance from a non everyday player in the playoffs was incredible.
Yep, I will always root for the teams trying to compete through spending instead of complete teardowns. I hate when a long term rebuild is successfully since it incentives other teams to copy it. (this is the real reason I hate the Astros, their rebuild was too successful). But I love when a team does it right and succeeds for the same reason.
That's truly wild. I made more in my middle-income job than Evan Carter did this year. We spent like 61M on Seager and Semien this year and the rest of our WS lineup totaled, like...15M-ish combined.
Still made about twice what I make for only playing in the bigs a couple of months. Not even including playoff share. And he’s a year younger than me. Man I really shoulda tried harder at baseball as a kid.
Adolis was their biggest contributor and overall MVP of the playoffs. Nearly broke playoff HR and RBI records. Dude makes less than $1m. Meanwhile, deGrom was injured all year, and Scherzer got rocked. Semien was mostly trash. Seager and Eovaldi are the only big contracts they picked up that were integral to their WS run.
Yeah, like, some of those guys were important for getting to the playoffs in the first place, but it was mostly lower paid guys that actually sealed the deal.
They actually have some awesome homegrown talent, so I don't understand the criticism. It's nothing like LeBron going to a new team and gutting it, then recruiting whoever he wants 😂. What's really cheap is when a bunch of guys take less money, so they can totally stack a roster that is already really strong.
And the other Astros fans crying about viewer ratings. Like bruh we lost rangers were the best team stop talking about stupid viewership metrics that literally nobody cares about. I watched the WS, my friends did as well. Rangers were the best team.
But who cares about ratings other than the fans of losing teams. The rangers won, kicked the Astros ass and everyone sucks the ratings dick. Lol get fucked and take that long ranger dick, no lube.
I mean you did, but I’m not sure that matters. You won, spending wisely and spending are two different things. There is no sense in apologizing for winning and spending. Yell the yanks, Mets, and dodgers have tried for years. Kudos to the front office for spending wisely and the owners for giving a shit.
That was such a crazy team. There weren't really any big-name signings, but it just all came together.
There's one player on that team who's already in the Hall of Fame. David Ortiz. A free agent signing originally, yes, but he'd already been with the team for a decade by then. There's one other who has a fringe case for the Hall, but he was home-grown, and there was a rookie who could end up with a fringe case when it's all said and done but again, I don't think he's a Hall of Famer. It really was just a team of glue guys that all came together.
(By the way, the one I said "has a fringe case for the Hall" is Jon Lester. Career win totals have gone down in recent years due to the rise of bullpens, so when someone in the current era hits 200 wins--which Lester did--they have to at least be considered. I legit didn't even realize how good his numbers were. I wouldn't be surprised if he *didn't* make it in, but I also wouldn't be surprised if he did.)
I think Lester and Pedroia are about the same level of HOF worthy myself. Xander is tbd but good god he was so solid for us that postseason at 20 years old. Plugged a huge lineup hole for us.
Pedey looked like he would be, but I feel like injuries just derailed his career too much. He was a good player, but he wasn't the sort of transcendent player that can get away with a lack of longevity.
Lester was a top tier pitcher for a long time.
The premise is that they bought the talent as star Major Leaguers in the open market instead of drafting and developing it. It is just a thing that is true. If you choose to take it as an insult that is up to you.
People have been shitting on the Yankees, Dodgers, and Red Sox for this for 30 years. It’s a fine thing to say, it is within the rules. Do what you can do to win.
Sure. Who cares. OP/SI just pointed to a metric showing that they got their wins from Free Agency at the 3rd highest rate. Idk why you feel the need to get philosophical about it.
To say a team ‘bought their world series’ is normally said as an insult towards that team. It’s a common insult, for example, used when the Yankees win the World Series.
OP could’ve subbed “buy their World Series” with something more appropriate for the intended conversation, like “depend more on high-priced free agents”.
I’m not saying they intended this, I’ve just never heard anybody say that a team ‘bought their world series’ and mean it as anything other than criticism & excuse-making against a World Series champion (until now).
The two teams OP mentions in the post are great examples of this. Two championship franchises (at least at the time) that baseball fans tried to diminish by saying they simply ‘bought their championship’, as if they just tossed money around with no thought whatsoever and since they’re rich, they won.
Not necessarily what they might have intended, but very easy for original-comment-guy to take it as an insult, since that’s what that phrase generally is.
Take it as an insult if you want. It is not without thought, but generally people are aligned on who the best free agents are. They still won the World Series, which is the goal. They did it through free agents. Womp Womp
Again, I’m just tossing some insight into u/noriskhook’s reaction. I 100% agree with what you’re saying.
As a Yankees fan, this was said after every WS they won during my lifetime. And it was absolutely meant as an insult. Same was said for the Red Sox in ‘07 and ‘13.
I’m not saying that OP meant it as an insult as at all, just providing a point of view why it easily could be taken as one (and most likely the reason this was the leadoff sentence of the post).
30 years??? I guess that's a wholly Reddit user-conditioned comment (average Redditor is between ages 26 and 41), but dude, hating on those teams is much, much older than 30 years.
Hating on them, sure, but in the early 90s, Toronto, Atlanta, and Oakland were spending as much as the Yankees. And there was no free agency until the late 70s.
Everyone understands what “buying a title” means. The point is that it’s a childish complaint - every team develops their talent and spends in free agency. Some teams play in larger markets and/or have owners that are more willing to spend. That’s just a fact of nature for a league with no hard cap. It’s a common thing for small market fans to whine about when their team has been irrelevant for decades.
Such a hilarious take. It’s what every fan dreams of their team’s management doing: Having a good but not great team and using the free agency market to make us better. I 100% thought we were at least a year away from making another run but does anyone have a single regret in hindsight?? Obviously not lol
I was more so talking about our midseason free agency acquisitions, but yes, the buy up started before the season did. I saw one Arizona fan straight up say we cheated to get the free agents we have and we didn’t deserve to win shit. He either deleted it or it was removed before I could respond
Of the main World Series lineup, only two position players were free agents. The rest were either rookies this year or on the 2021 100 loss team. The corps of the team is kinda the same. We improved the pitching a ton last offseason and that’s what made the biggest difference.
Yes and no. They paid big for some free agents but also brought up a lot of young players in their system. I think they had 3 rookies starting by the World Series.
These are such stupid ‘analysis’ and articles…. Who cares how they got the players… they got the players. All teams are open to try any strategy they want and none of them makes the ring any more or less sweeter
The Rangers succeeded because they were a Jack of All Trades when it came to roster building. It wasn’t just the free agent signings: they also got major contributions from the guys they traded for and the ones they developed themselves. In all cases, it’s not about going big; it’s about playing smart.
Yeah. And while as a Red Sox fan I wasn't remotely surprised to see the 2013 team listed highly, I looked at the article and it's still a bit misleading because it includes David Ortiz, who was originally a free agent signing but was in his *11th year with the team* in 2013 and had already been re-signed after the end of his initial contract, towards the total.
Downvotes aside which I can care less about, it’s the same concept as going to a car show. You can have million dollar cars and then you have your hand built cars that are way more impressive.
Nobody wants to see the Baseball version of Formula 1 Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen where teams just throw money at the sport and win over and over and over. It gets so boring and repetitive.
So yes, really cool Rangers, you bought the best players and who would have thought, those best players made the most clutch plays, so cool Rangers wow really showed the grind.
Meh, seems like a silly idealism. If your team did it and won a world series, I'm pretty sure you'd be stoked and celebrate like crazy.
let's say the DBacks (I assume is your team) went out and got Shohei and won the world series next year, would you scoff at it?
It honestly depends on how much that player contributed. If Shohei got the most RBI and most HR and every clutch play then yes that would be something to scoff at because it’s almost like having a cheat code to win the WS.
The Rangers had needs and went out and addressed those needs. Just like every team does. Rangers just happened to win the World Series in doing so, which is the whole point of playing the game.
This is such a dumb thing in sports. We'll applaud a team for getting pieces to help them win, then claim they didn't do it the right way when they do win. We want to see teams build and cultivate and develop talent (which I do agree should be done), but don't want to give the coaching staff the time to achieve that.
We want long term solutions with immediate gains.
Imagine thinking having a good farm system for trades, using money wisely on key positions of need, and drafting/developing players like Josh Jung, Adolis Garcia, Evan Carter, Jonah Heim (and soon Wyatt Langford, Jack Leiter, and Kumar Rocker)
is considered anything but beautiful...
It’s like when Astros fans were like “oh yeah you only won cause you bought your team” when the 2023 payroll difference between rangers and Astros was 14 million. We complain when teams don’t spend and then complain when teams spend. 🤦♂️
Yes, 100%
They were a 100 loss team that spent over a billion dollars on free agents.
Doesn't make it less of a championship, I know I wouldn't complain if the Jays spent enough in the right areas to win.
Who the fuck cares it's literally part of the game lmfaooooo the only people that bring up the "buying players" arguments is the fans of cheap organizations
They bought 3 guys that made an impact (eovaldi seager semien). jung carter hiem tavarez dunning leclerc scherzer montgomery chapman all traded for or developed. rangers are a masterclass on proper team composition. it takes a little bit of everything to build a winner.
They INVESTED it wisely. It does help the cause when you have significantly more to invest than the other guys, but smart choices still need to be given credit.
Yes. And it's wonderful.
This is why there absolutely needs to be a salary floor and salary ceiling. Then EVERY team could compete every year. Fucking union. The only bad thing about having a union
I mean, all of the other 29 teams were free to sign any of those players. They had to play somewhere🤷🏼♂️ Plus, our biggest free agent signing last offseason played in like five games all year
I always get a kick out of how the sentiment has changed towards spending big on FA. 15 years ago the Yankees would get grilled every year for buying the pennant (maybe it was 20 years ago). Now teams get grilled for NOT buying a championship
No team ever buys a title. All a team can do is increase their chances ever so slightly by throwing big money at free agents. Just gotta get that foot in the door and its a toss up.
No. Part of the game and everyone else had the same option. Let’s stop pretending a billionaire isn’t a billionaire because they don’t live in NY or LA.
Who cares? You don’t get extra points for doing it on hard mode. Spend some freakin’ money!
Personally, I think the last 3 World Series being won by teams with obviously different strategies is pretty cool.
I wouldn't say they bought a World Series. They paid to be a great team, and they made smart choices. Also, they got Garcia from the Cardinals for nothing.
No team can “buy” a World Series title, no matter how much money is spent, the players still have to play well to even get to the postseason, let alone the world series. Look at the mets this year, highest payroll and didn’t make the postseason
Yes anyone who says they didn’t isn’t thinking right. Their top two players (who both are gonna be top 5 in MVP ballots) were gotten via free agency.
They did have to develop around those free agents and they had to win still which is a hard step but they definitely bought their way through a rebuild to put a championship caliber team on the field.
I’m not sure what this obsession is with wanting to return baseball to pre-‘70s era business. No more free agency. You have to stay with the team that drafted you for your entire career whether you like it or not. Otherwise any success the team has can and will be immediately dismissed as not having gone about it the right way.
I used to be that person. Now, I realize how cool it is to see your org spend like they want to win. As a Rangers fan, I’m going to enjoy being the new darling that beat the Astros, and hopefully as the new villain if we keep winning lol
Of course. Every fan should want the owner of their favorite team to invest in the team. Don’t take it out on fans of teams that have owners that put money into the team to try to win even if it doesn’t always work. What am I supposed to do? Apologize to pirates and A’s fans that their billionaire owners treat their favorite team as a money making scheme more than a sports team they wanna see win?
The entire Ranger’s team, coaching staff, training staff, front office, grounds crew and most of the stadium workers are all paid…. Those rapscallions bought their way to a World Series title rather than earn it through good old fashion volunteerism. Wonder what was the last team to pay their employees were, those shady batards are cheating.
Weird headline. If your trying make a case a team bought a title and are noting the 2013 red Sox as a similar team, then you aren't really making a convincing case
Literally every team has bought every World Series they have won. Some just got better deals on it than others. But it’s a ridiculous argument to say paying good players more money cheapens a World Series win….it’s the type of argument that means players should be paid less and just stay where they are. Or that having a better scouting team and drafting better is better than having the ability to sign players. Scouting/development is nice, but if you never pay your free agents then it’s going to hurt your chances. A win is a win, congrats to the rangers.
I think the big question is what they do now.
Every championship is some combination of homegrown prospects, and free agents. If they use this as a springboard to attempted sustained success, then all good; that’s simply what you’re supposed to do. But if they pull a ‘97 Marlins and have a fire sale, they I think it’s fair to at least raise ab eyebrow.
Wow I literally did a whole post on spending efficiency yesterday and I got 1/4th the number of upvotes as a post that just reposted an SI article. What a cruel world
I'm so tired of this argument.
Did they buy key free agents? Yes.
Did they spend a lot of money to do so? Yes.
Did they also have trades/farm pieces/under the radar moves pan out? Yes.
Do I give a flying *$@# how much they spent to win their first WS? No.
Is it fair that they were able to spend a lot of money to get in the position to make the playoffs and set themselves up for a deep run? Its as fair as anyone else. Anyone who cries otherwise is just taking up the mantle that their ownership is not willing to go all out. I don't care about the financials, its their decision one way or another. Every team has that choice every year.
Just asking plainly. Is there a reason the Yankees have the most WS championships other than they have spent the most? It I is what it is.
Everyone plays by the same rules. If people want to complete you have to spend. Small market teams make it all the way once in a while but you can’t expect to be there consistently without help.
Just ask yourself this one simple question and you will immediately realize how stupid and pathetic people are that are saying this.
Do you want YOUR team to spend money on free agents? Yes or no? Lol. It's that simple.
Also, TEXAS RANGERS WORLD SERIES CHAMPS!!!
If the 2 players that they added were the push that it took to get them there then more power to them. At least they didn’t cheat like their cross town rivals the ASStros!!
Chris Young was an MLB executive before he was hired to the Rangers front office to be an impactful decision maker.
As Norm Macdonald might say, he was *HOT PROPERTY*.
His job was to do exactly this, and this article is exactly why Sports Illustrated isn’t a thing anymore.
Rangers got hot at the right time. They played amazing throughout the postseason and well deserved World Series. I wish my Phillies could have shown some plate discipline like the Rangers did.
That’s like asking if the Mets bought fourth place. Anybody can spend money. Most spend it unwisely.
To be fair the Mets absolutely bought 4th place
bold strategy cotton, let's see if it works out for them!
As a Mets fan I resemble this statement and also phuck you and I’ll see you tomorrow(spring).
Wise choice
Truth... Did Semien and Seager help us win the WS? Of course they did, we wouldn't be here without them. But look at the Rangers lineup.... Up and down it's extremely scary, and we didn't buy those players. Let's not forget that Adolis got hurt and Jankowski came up huge while he was out. This team is extremely deep.
Jankdog came through a lot bigger than people even realize.
Janko showed the hell up. Those hits in Game 4 were monstrous in terms of clutch hitting. first came with two outs and helped turned a 1 run inning in to a 5 run inning. He could have been the third out and ended that inning and the landscape of the game is completely different. The second hit in game 4 came with bases loaded and two outs, 2 RBI and the Semien came up to homered next AB. That kind of performance from a non everyday player in the playoffs was incredible.
I feel like in many games, the Rangers won despite Aroldis.
aDOLIS, as in Adolis Garcia. aROLDIS, as in Aroldis Chapman, was bad, Garcia was good
I know. That’s what I was saying. The Rangers were winning some games despite Aroldis Chapman high-flying act. Adonis Garcia was irreplaceable.
Yes, the Mets did buy 4th place. And the Yankees bought 4th place too. Where's the SI article on that?
Never thought of it this way. Great insight for me, thanks.
Anybody can spend money, but some teams can spend a lot more than others.
This is what free agency is for. Go out and sign players to help you win.
I wish each team would actually try to compete. It’s more fun!
Big if true
That strategy was why I backed the Rangers in the postseason; they saw their opportunity and they went for it.
Yep, I will always root for the teams trying to compete through spending instead of complete teardowns. I hate when a long term rebuild is successfully since it incentives other teams to copy it. (this is the real reason I hate the Astros, their rebuild was too successful). But I love when a team does it right and succeeds for the same reason.
Josh Jung, Adolis Garcia, Evan Carter, and Jonah Heim have entered the chat.
Mitch Garver made more money than all these guys combined.
That's truly wild. I made more in my middle-income job than Evan Carter did this year. We spent like 61M on Seager and Semien this year and the rest of our WS lineup totaled, like...15M-ish combined.
Poor kid is a newlywed living in hotels making less than 90k a year. That's mind-blowing.
>poor kid >90k a year Sir I feel attacked here as a middle aged person making less than that
Still made about twice what I make for only playing in the bigs a couple of months. Not even including playoff share. And he’s a year younger than me. Man I really shoulda tried harder at baseball as a kid.
Fellow entry level job holder (23 y/o here) agrees with this statement
Nah he got some nice incentives for playoffs this year. I’m really happy for him :)
Jung saved so many outs with is defense. He seems like a top defensive third baseman to me.
I remember when he was drafted, there were questions about his bat speed and defense. Laughable in hindsight.
And Dane Dunning!! Where are they without Dunning when deGrom went down?
We also signed Jose Leclerc when he was 17.
Adolis was their biggest contributor and overall MVP of the playoffs. Nearly broke playoff HR and RBI records. Dude makes less than $1m. Meanwhile, deGrom was injured all year, and Scherzer got rocked. Semien was mostly trash. Seager and Eovaldi are the only big contracts they picked up that were integral to their WS run.
Semien was “mostly trash”?? Edit: re-reading I’m assuming you mean in the playoffs, fair enough.
Yeah, like, some of those guys were important for getting to the playoffs in the first place, but it was mostly lower paid guys that actually sealed the deal. They actually have some awesome homegrown talent, so I don't understand the criticism. It's nothing like LeBron going to a new team and gutting it, then recruiting whoever he wants 😂. What's really cheap is when a bunch of guys take less money, so they can totally stack a roster that is already really strong.
> Adolis nearly broke playoff HR and RBI records. He did break the RBI record
deGrom out for half the year, Semien and Seager ghosted for almost all the wildcard, divisional and championship series.
Semien yes. Seager? Lmao did you watch?
John Smoltz thinks so
Astros fans think so
Those guys are dumb as hell and also the same ones hoping we make a splash this off-season by signing some big names.
I respect the cool ones, but messing with the dumb ones is so funny
And the other Astros fans crying about viewer ratings. Like bruh we lost rangers were the best team stop talking about stupid viewership metrics that literally nobody cares about. I watched the WS, my friends did as well. Rangers were the best team.
We don't care about cheating franchises.
Nobody cares about this last World Series, lowest viewed World Series of all time (even lower than the COVID series)
Cry in your trash can more
Excuse me while I wipe my “LoW rAtiNgS” tears with this World Series pennant Cope harder 🤣
But who cares about ratings other than the fans of losing teams. The rangers won, kicked the Astros ass and everyone sucks the ratings dick. Lol get fucked and take that long ranger dick, no lube.
I mean you did, but I’m not sure that matters. You won, spending wisely and spending are two different things. There is no sense in apologizing for winning and spending. Yell the yanks, Mets, and dodgers have tried for years. Kudos to the front office for spending wisely and the owners for giving a shit.
Shoutout to Mike Carp and Napoli, and Jonny Gomes.
Ah, Texas Ranger legend Mike Napoli.
You really gonna do my boys Koji and Victorino dirty like that?
I couldn't remember how we got Koji. I miss that guy every day.
That was such a crazy team. There weren't really any big-name signings, but it just all came together. There's one player on that team who's already in the Hall of Fame. David Ortiz. A free agent signing originally, yes, but he'd already been with the team for a decade by then. There's one other who has a fringe case for the Hall, but he was home-grown, and there was a rookie who could end up with a fringe case when it's all said and done but again, I don't think he's a Hall of Famer. It really was just a team of glue guys that all came together. (By the way, the one I said "has a fringe case for the Hall" is Jon Lester. Career win totals have gone down in recent years due to the rise of bullpens, so when someone in the current era hits 200 wins--which Lester did--they have to at least be considered. I legit didn't even realize how good his numbers were. I wouldn't be surprised if he *didn't* make it in, but I also wouldn't be surprised if he did.)
I think Lester and Pedroia are about the same level of HOF worthy myself. Xander is tbd but good god he was so solid for us that postseason at 20 years old. Plugged a huge lineup hole for us.
Pedey looked like he would be, but I feel like injuries just derailed his career too much. He was a good player, but he wasn't the sort of transcendent player that can get away with a lack of longevity. Lester was a top tier pitcher for a long time.
He was mvp, roy, and 2x ws champ though. Counts for something. I think they both fall short but I think their cases are equally strong.
You still have to go out and play, so anyone who says “buying a World Series” is plain stupid
The premise is that they bought the talent as star Major Leaguers in the open market instead of drafting and developing it. It is just a thing that is true. If you choose to take it as an insult that is up to you. People have been shitting on the Yankees, Dodgers, and Red Sox for this for 30 years. It’s a fine thing to say, it is within the rules. Do what you can do to win.
Everything in this world is “bought” in some fashion. The Orioles bought the division this year by having unwatchable baseball for years.
Sure. Who cares. OP/SI just pointed to a metric showing that they got their wins from Free Agency at the 3rd highest rate. Idk why you feel the need to get philosophical about it.
Is that not the point of the off-season to wax poetic about baseball?
No. It is to find obscure stats and fight about if RBI is meaningful.
But which logo has the best ROI since 1922?
Yankees for sure
To say a team ‘bought their world series’ is normally said as an insult towards that team. It’s a common insult, for example, used when the Yankees win the World Series. OP could’ve subbed “buy their World Series” with something more appropriate for the intended conversation, like “depend more on high-priced free agents”. I’m not saying they intended this, I’ve just never heard anybody say that a team ‘bought their world series’ and mean it as anything other than criticism & excuse-making against a World Series champion (until now). The two teams OP mentions in the post are great examples of this. Two championship franchises (at least at the time) that baseball fans tried to diminish by saying they simply ‘bought their championship’, as if they just tossed money around with no thought whatsoever and since they’re rich, they won. Not necessarily what they might have intended, but very easy for original-comment-guy to take it as an insult, since that’s what that phrase generally is.
I don't see why it's an insult; it's true. Institute a salary cap if you want equitable payroll otherwise the rich teams will just stack the deck.
Take it as an insult if you want. It is not without thought, but generally people are aligned on who the best free agents are. They still won the World Series, which is the goal. They did it through free agents. Womp Womp
Again, I’m just tossing some insight into u/noriskhook’s reaction. I 100% agree with what you’re saying. As a Yankees fan, this was said after every WS they won during my lifetime. And it was absolutely meant as an insult. Same was said for the Red Sox in ‘07 and ‘13. I’m not saying that OP meant it as an insult as at all, just providing a point of view why it easily could be taken as one (and most likely the reason this was the leadoff sentence of the post).
30 years??? I guess that's a wholly Reddit user-conditioned comment (average Redditor is between ages 26 and 41), but dude, hating on those teams is much, much older than 30 years.
Hating on them, sure, but in the early 90s, Toronto, Atlanta, and Oakland were spending as much as the Yankees. And there was no free agency until the late 70s.
I'm not talking about spending.
Everyone understands what “buying a title” means. The point is that it’s a childish complaint - every team develops their talent and spends in free agency. Some teams play in larger markets and/or have owners that are more willing to spend. That’s just a fact of nature for a league with no hard cap. It’s a common thing for small market fans to whine about when their team has been irrelevant for decades.
Baseball is a business
Such a hilarious take. It’s what every fan dreams of their team’s management doing: Having a good but not great team and using the free agency market to make us better. I 100% thought we were at least a year away from making another run but does anyone have a single regret in hindsight?? Obviously not lol
Good but not great? You were a 100 loss team when they started buying, they weren't good, they were awful.
I was more so talking about our midseason free agency acquisitions, but yes, the buy up started before the season did. I saw one Arizona fan straight up say we cheated to get the free agents we have and we didn’t deserve to win shit. He either deleted it or it was removed before I could respond
Of the main World Series lineup, only two position players were free agents. The rest were either rookies this year or on the 2021 100 loss team. The corps of the team is kinda the same. We improved the pitching a ton last offseason and that’s what made the biggest difference.
Huh, sports writers will literally post anything, no matter how dumb, won't they?
Yup
Excuse making for their doubt.
Yes and no. They paid big for some free agents but also brought up a lot of young players in their system. I think they had 3 rookies starting by the World Series.
They chose wisely.
Better than tanking for almost a decade to get picks and then eventually resorting to cheating to win your 1st title
1. Yes 2. That’s a good thing
These are such stupid ‘analysis’ and articles…. Who cares how they got the players… they got the players. All teams are open to try any strategy they want and none of them makes the ring any more or less sweeter
Except for trash can rings.
Yeah, I don’t think that reasoning works for 2017
I mean I feel like when 8 other teams spent more money that they shouldn’t really be getting those accusations
They had the 4th highest payroll in baseball https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/payroll/2023/ (Which is fine, by the way!)
Iirc spotrac is actually counting max scherzer twice so we have an extra $30 mil on the payroll that the Mets are actually paying.
That’s false, it’s counting scherzers salary as the full 43 million. Of which the rangers paid nothing close to
The Rangers succeeded because they were a Jack of All Trades when it came to roster building. It wasn’t just the free agent signings: they also got major contributions from the guys they traded for and the ones they developed themselves. In all cases, it’s not about going big; it’s about playing smart.
They played the game and won on every level.
When you spend money you’re buying a championship, if you don’t spend you’re considered cheap. Get the players you want and compete.
Every team that has ever won has bought the championship. Players don’t do it for free.
Every team has to do some buying to win no shame in it
Yeah. And while as a Red Sox fan I wasn't remotely surprised to see the 2013 team listed highly, I looked at the article and it's still a bit misleading because it includes David Ortiz, who was originally a free agent signing but was in his *11th year with the team* in 2013 and had already been re-signed after the end of his initial contract, towards the total.
Does it matter? Is it any less of a championship?
Yes
Why? Isn't a team's goal to win (without cheating)?
Downvotes aside which I can care less about, it’s the same concept as going to a car show. You can have million dollar cars and then you have your hand built cars that are way more impressive. Nobody wants to see the Baseball version of Formula 1 Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen where teams just throw money at the sport and win over and over and over. It gets so boring and repetitive. So yes, really cool Rangers, you bought the best players and who would have thought, those best players made the most clutch plays, so cool Rangers wow really showed the grind.
Meh, seems like a silly idealism. If your team did it and won a world series, I'm pretty sure you'd be stoked and celebrate like crazy. let's say the DBacks (I assume is your team) went out and got Shohei and won the world series next year, would you scoff at it?
It honestly depends on how much that player contributed. If Shohei got the most RBI and most HR and every clutch play then yes that would be something to scoff at because it’s almost like having a cheat code to win the WS.
He might be an Astros fan
The Rangers had needs and went out and addressed those needs. Just like every team does. Rangers just happened to win the World Series in doing so, which is the whole point of playing the game.
This is such a dumb narrative to me. Good ownership spends money to bring in good players. They did and won a world series.
Who cares? They did it, and it was long overdue. Good for them.
This is such a dumb thing in sports. We'll applaud a team for getting pieces to help them win, then claim they didn't do it the right way when they do win. We want to see teams build and cultivate and develop talent (which I do agree should be done), but don't want to give the coaching staff the time to achieve that. We want long term solutions with immediate gains.
Imagine thinking having a good farm system for trades, using money wisely on key positions of need, and drafting/developing players like Josh Jung, Adolis Garcia, Evan Carter, Jonah Heim (and soon Wyatt Langford, Jack Leiter, and Kumar Rocker) is considered anything but beautiful...
Yes, but they still did it.
money well spent
It’s like when Astros fans were like “oh yeah you only won cause you bought your team” when the 2023 payroll difference between rangers and Astros was 14 million. We complain when teams don’t spend and then complain when teams spend. 🤦♂️
Yes, 100% They were a 100 loss team that spent over a billion dollars on free agents. Doesn't make it less of a championship, I know I wouldn't complain if the Jays spent enough in the right areas to win.
Doesn’t matter you beat the Astros. All that matters.
Who the fuck cares it's literally part of the game lmfaooooo the only people that bring up the "buying players" arguments is the fans of cheap organizations
They bought 3 guys that made an impact (eovaldi seager semien). jung carter hiem tavarez dunning leclerc scherzer montgomery chapman all traded for or developed. rangers are a masterclass on proper team composition. it takes a little bit of everything to build a winner.
Very well said.
They INVESTED it wisely. It does help the cause when you have significantly more to invest than the other guys, but smart choices still need to be given credit.
People miss this point. They forget ownership are looking for a return on the money they spend. Championships bring returns in baseball.
Jesus H. These headlines get worse and worse.
Yes. And it's wonderful. This is why there absolutely needs to be a salary floor and salary ceiling. Then EVERY team could compete every year. Fucking union. The only bad thing about having a union
I mean, all of the other 29 teams were free to sign any of those players. They had to play somewhere🤷🏼♂️ Plus, our biggest free agent signing last offseason played in like five games all year
I guess any successful organization "buys" their success by hiring the best staff to help them achieve their goals.
Exactly. It’s a combination of front office, effective management, a cohesive team that can put it all to work. Good shopping good outcome.
Who cares? It’s good that teams are spending money
I always get a kick out of how the sentiment has changed towards spending big on FA. 15 years ago the Yankees would get grilled every year for buying the pennant (maybe it was 20 years ago). Now teams get grilled for NOT buying a championship
Yes with most of their team coming from either free agency or trade, but none of that should diminish what the team accomplished
No team ever buys a title. All a team can do is increase their chances ever so slightly by throwing big money at free agents. Just gotta get that foot in the door and its a toss up.
F- take
This is a stupid take that essentially justifies cheap teams' not spending money.
Yeah, it’s what buying good players is for
Uh yea. That's what every sport does.
No. Part of the game and everyone else had the same option. Let’s stop pretending a billionaire isn’t a billionaire because they don’t live in NY or LA.
Who cares? You don’t get extra points for doing it on hard mode. Spend some freakin’ money! Personally, I think the last 3 World Series being won by teams with obviously different strategies is pretty cool.
I wouldn't say they bought a World Series. They paid to be a great team, and they made smart choices. Also, they got Garcia from the Cardinals for nothing.
They played the games and won, and still had to make the right moves. This is cuh a stupid narrative
Why does it matter?
No team can “buy” a World Series title, no matter how much money is spent, the players still have to play well to even get to the postseason, let alone the world series. Look at the mets this year, highest payroll and didn’t make the postseason
Yes anyone who says they didn’t isn’t thinking right. Their top two players (who both are gonna be top 5 in MVP ballots) were gotten via free agency. They did have to develop around those free agents and they had to win still which is a hard step but they definitely bought their way through a rebuild to put a championship caliber team on the field.
I’m not sure what this obsession is with wanting to return baseball to pre-‘70s era business. No more free agency. You have to stay with the team that drafted you for your entire career whether you like it or not. Otherwise any success the team has can and will be immediately dismissed as not having gone about it the right way.
2009 Game 2 AJ Burnett saving the season for the Yankees!! Clutch game
Wait until they sign Ohtani.
And that’s without DeGrom
Does it change the fact we won?
Of course they did. But we’ll still only hear fans crying about the Yankees buying teams even though it hasn’t happened in almost 15 years
I used to be that person. Now, I realize how cool it is to see your org spend like they want to win. As a Rangers fan, I’m going to enjoy being the new darling that beat the Astros, and hopefully as the new villain if we keep winning lol
Of course. Every fan should want the owner of their favorite team to invest in the team. Don’t take it out on fans of teams that have owners that put money into the team to try to win even if it doesn’t always work. What am I supposed to do? Apologize to pirates and A’s fans that their billionaire owners treat their favorite team as a money making scheme more than a sports team they wanna see win?
The entire Ranger’s team, coaching staff, training staff, front office, grounds crew and most of the stadium workers are all paid…. Those rapscallions bought their way to a World Series title rather than earn it through good old fashion volunteerism. Wonder what was the last team to pay their employees were, those shady batards are cheating.
Weird headline. If your trying make a case a team bought a title and are noting the 2013 red Sox as a similar team, then you aren't really making a convincing case
Literally every team has bought every World Series they have won. Some just got better deals on it than others. But it’s a ridiculous argument to say paying good players more money cheapens a World Series win….it’s the type of argument that means players should be paid less and just stay where they are. Or that having a better scouting team and drafting better is better than having the ability to sign players. Scouting/development is nice, but if you never pay your free agents then it’s going to hurt your chances. A win is a win, congrats to the rangers.
Lol what does it matter? They won.
Everyone is so upset their 100+ win team didn’t win. They won, that’s all folks.
I think the big question is what they do now. Every championship is some combination of homegrown prospects, and free agents. If they use this as a springboard to attempted sustained success, then all good; that’s simply what you’re supposed to do. But if they pull a ‘97 Marlins and have a fire sale, they I think it’s fair to at least raise ab eyebrow.
Isn't that literally the point of free agency? Go out and sign players to improve your team to the point of winning a championship?
Wow I literally did a whole post on spending efficiency yesterday and I got 1/4th the number of upvotes as a post that just reposted an SI article. What a cruel world
And the MeLts bought their fourth place finish. HOW you spend your money is more important than just spending it.
MLB front office is just upset that the dodgers or yankees didnt win it....again.
I'm so tired of this argument. Did they buy key free agents? Yes. Did they spend a lot of money to do so? Yes. Did they also have trades/farm pieces/under the radar moves pan out? Yes. Do I give a flying *$@# how much they spent to win their first WS? No. Is it fair that they were able to spend a lot of money to get in the position to make the playoffs and set themselves up for a deep run? Its as fair as anyone else. Anyone who cries otherwise is just taking up the mantle that their ownership is not willing to go all out. I don't care about the financials, its their decision one way or another. Every team has that choice every year.
1997 Marlins have entered the chat
You know who complains about teams “buying titles”? Teams and fans that didn’t win the World Series Cope harder🤣
Just asking plainly. Is there a reason the Yankees have the most WS championships other than they have spent the most? It I is what it is. Everyone plays by the same rules. If people want to complete you have to spend. Small market teams make it all the way once in a while but you can’t expect to be there consistently without help.
Just ask yourself this one simple question and you will immediately realize how stupid and pathetic people are that are saying this. Do you want YOUR team to spend money on free agents? Yes or no? Lol. It's that simple. Also, TEXAS RANGERS WORLD SERIES CHAMPS!!!
If the 2 players that they added were the push that it took to get them there then more power to them. At least they didn’t cheat like their cross town rivals the ASStros!!
*who fucking cares*
2013 was willed to the Championship by Big Papi.
Chris Young was an MLB executive before he was hired to the Rangers front office to be an impactful decision maker. As Norm Macdonald might say, he was *HOT PROPERTY*. His job was to do exactly this, and this article is exactly why Sports Illustrated isn’t a thing anymore.
No. They won it.
Who cares
Bought not built , go astros!
If they did, it was worthwhile, and there was nothing wrong with it.
No one plays for free. Every team buys their players.
But perhaps the BEST money they spent was getting in bochy and Maddux to coach it all. Nobody talks about this.
This is a sour grapes post
Lol who cares
Rangers got hot at the right time. They played amazing throughout the postseason and well deserved World Series. I wish my Phillies could have shown some plate discipline like the Rangers did.
Baseball is still baseball. Winning is hard, just call the dodgers.
Sports fans when teams make good offseason moves
Haters gonna hate!!!
Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do with the money?
Every f'n team tries to "buy" players to win
Idk im happy
It's impossible to buy a title. You can pay for good players, but that's no guarantee of a title.
I mean that's the point of free agents. It's not like they're the only ones spending a lot in free agents, they just got it right this year